Chương 25: Nine Mountain Bandits

Half of the people were too injured to fight. I brought them to Julie personally, mostly to check on her and so that she and Gerald could see each other. There was a lot of crying and hugging. To my surprise, Julie had already prepared multiple healing pastes.

"I knew I would be useless inside a fight," Julie said, while applying a paste onto Gerald's body.

"So I made sure that once you came back here, those who were alive would stay alive." I could only nod in response. I was given a healing paste too. I watched the wounds on Gerald. His shoulder was punctured. His chest wide open. I was shocked to know he was still alive. I was even more shocked that something just bypassed his armor. I asked him about it.

"Constitution, my Lord, and skills. They are a pain in the ass," he said after seeing the surprised look on my face.

"I have a high constitution. These wounds may look terrible, but even without a healing paste, I would have lived."

"Stats are a marvelous thing," I could only say.

"They are." We were pulled back together fast and began our march towards Tom's hideout. Only a couple were too injured and had to stay behind. We made sure that nobody was being attacked inside the town and told everybody to stay inside. I could feel the anger of the people who worked for me. They were furious, especially Ren and Ben. As we walked through Blackstone Town, I made sure that we truly knew what we were walking into.

I didn't want to walk into an ambush, but the others assured me that most of Tom's men were dead. There wouldn't be any surprises. We made sure to be quick and walked towards one of the worse parts of the town. The houses looked a little more run down, and there were multiple abandoned warehouses. Most of them were used for the Blackstone that had been mined inside the mine. Now they were home to two different kinds of rats. Tom and his men, and the grey little animals.

Ben and Ren led us through the abandoned area, like it was their second home. We were 8 people in total. Four of my guards—including Ben and Ren—three more conscripts, and then me and Gerald. Two stayed behind. Both me and Gerald took the lead the moment Ben and Ren showed us the warehouse. It was an old building but in decent shape. The front door was blocked, according to the two, and only the backdoor was the only entrance. At least for most people.

We hid around the corner and made sure that everyone was on the same page.

"I will take Ben and Ren, and we will burst through the front door. Gerald and the rest of you will go wait by the backdoor and catch them the moment they flee. If they don't flee and decide to fight, we will pincer them," I said, and everybody except Gerald nodded.

"My Lord, you should take more people," he said. I was about to retort, but he continued.

"If they only see three people enter from behind, they will immediately realize what we have planned. Tom is not dumb. Besides, it will be hard for all of us to ambush them if they flee. Me and two more people should be more than enough." I stayed silent for a brief moment and eventually relented. Gerald and I split up. He would take two of the guards, while I would take Ren, Ben, and the three conscripts. My group and I made our way towards the front door. It was now that confused glances were shot towards me.

How were we going to enter? Luckily for them, I already had some practice. I looked at Ben and nodded; the man activated his Hiding Skill and slipped into a dark shadow next to the door. He would be the first one to enter. I gathered Mana into my fist and arrived in front of the door. I cocked my arm back and punched forward. The whole warehouse trembled. The door burst into multiple pieces just to reveal multiple heavy crates behind it. I repeated the process.

The crates slid back, just enough for a person to slip through. Ben was the first to enter, followed by Ren and me. The conscripts poured inside behind us. The warehouse was dark, but with multiple holes allowing light to enter. We spread out inside the warehouse, and I took a moment to observe it. Multiple wooden beams held the warehouse up. Around those were big crates filled with all kinds of stuff. Mostly debris and other broken material, but there were also a few valuables and even some food.

I didn't have long to observe, as a door in the far back opened up. At first, I thought it was Gerald who entered through the backdoor. It was not. It was a portly built man with a bald head and a scimitar in his hand. He looked around confused before his gaze fell on us. A moment later, his eyes widened in shock. Two more men came out of the room behind him and stood next to his side. I could tell all three of them were well into Stone Rank, with the portly built man being the strongest. Tom.

And that same man was also the one to speak.

"How?"

"How what?"

"How are you Stone Rank? How did you defeat my men? It should have been impossible," Tom said. I decided to entertain him and wait for Gerald to enter the building.

"What? You think they were enough–" If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. I wasn't able to finish my sentence before Tom's command rang out.

"Attack!" Both of the men behind Tom made their move. They burst forward, at great speed, but I was prepared. What I wasn't prepared for was for Ben to jump out of my shadow and block an incoming attack towards my back. One of the conscripts had betrayed us.

"I will take care of him!" Ben said. Ren, on the other hand, eyed the rest of the conscripts with a cautious gaze. They made no effort to attack us, however. I decided to engage with the two men charging us, while Ben took care of the traitor and Ren guarded my back. To my surprise, Tom didn't actually intend to fight. Instead, he ran straight towards the back door. And with that, towards Gerland. I grinned. I went all out immediately.

I channeled my Mana through my legs; by now the process was so automatic that it felt instantaneous. Using a great amount of Mana, I burst forward. I was developing a new technique similar to Mana Strike. I wasn't there yet, but soon. I arrived in front of the first man and punched forward. He parried my attack with his forearm and retaliated with a straight towards my face. I slipped his punch and stepped inside, delivering a hook to his body, followed by an uppercut to his chin.

He took the brunt of the first attack but managed to dodge the second. If barely. I would have continued my onslaught but unfortunately his friend decided to join in. His dagger lit up in blue light, and he activated an attack I had seen Ben use—Penetrative Strike. I opted out of blocking and instead jumped backwards. When I landed, the unarmed man punched toward me. He was at least half a dozen feet away. His fist glowed in a blue light, then traveled outward.

A blue outline of a fist traveled across the distance between us and due to my surprise I was only able to lift up my forearms in an X-shape to block. I stumbled backwards and groaned. It was like getting hit by a sledgehammer. My forearms turned numb. Before I regained my balance, the dagger-wielding man was already upon me, slashing me across the chest. Blood gushed out of my wound. I grit my teeth and ignored the pain. Now was the time. I closed the distance.

Both men were too far from one another to help each other. I made sure to keep both of them in one line so the ranged Mana fist attack couldn't hit me again. Within a few strikes, I beat the man to a pulp. I had to preserve my Mana as the fight from before hadn't left me with much. So, Mana Strike and Snake Strike were out of the question. Instead, it was good old mana-infused strikes. He succumbed before his unarmed friend could reach me. And with that, it was just me and him as we threw punches at one another.

I outclassed him by far. My general Unarmed Combat Skill was Uncommon Grade for a reason. I hit him across his jaw, dazing him. I followed up with another straight and then a hook, all aimed at the jaw. The straight hit him and my hook missed as his body turned limp and he fell to the ground. His head bounced off the ground and he started convulsing. I looked back towards where I had taken care of the dagger-wielding man. To my surprise, he lay on his stomach with his hands tied behind his back.

Ren had his knee deep into the man's upper back, stopping every struggling attempt with a chomp towards his neck.

"We have taken care of him and the traitor," Ben appeared out of Ren's shadow. He was getting better.

"The rest didn't make a move and also seemed surprised by the betrayal. To be honest, even I was. Most of us were part of the gang because of... circumstances." I nodded, "Good job." I didn't stay to linger and instead ran towards the door. I hoped Gerald was alright. We had already lost enough. I couldn't also lose my Guard Captain. I sped up. I kicked the half-open door off its hinges and burst out of the warehouse.

I frantically scanned the area, expecting to see a fight, just to end up finding a bald, portly man lying on the ground thrashing around like a wild baby.

"What have you done, Tom?" Gerald asked, his giant sword stuck right next to the man's neck. It didn't seem to frighten Tom.

"Do you realize the pain that you have caused this town? The suffering? I remember how you begged me to join the guards and now this? All because I denied you entry into a force that would allow your bloodthirsty tendencies to shine?" Gerald shook his head, disappointed.

"You have no idea what the hell you are talking about! None!" Tom screamed; he tried to lift his head up from the ground just to be met by a heavy, armored foot to the face.

"Bring the ropes, guys," Gerald said and looked at the guards. They obeyed. I simply stared at the scene with shock. Then a smile formed on my face. Looks like I had underestimated that old man by a bunch.

"You took care of him quite easily, huh?" I said, and Tom's and Gerald's eyes snapped to me.

"Oh, my Lord. Of course," Gerald said.

"I trained him after all. Everything he knows was taught by me. Hahh, I thought I could change him with discipline. Alas... it looks like I only made it worse. I don't reckon he will live to see another day?"

"He won't," I confirmed his suspicions.

"The people's anger has to be appeased." Gerald sighed solemnly and nodded.

"Understandably," he said.

"YOU!" Tom screamed at me.

"IT ALL FAILED BECAUSE OF YOU! YOU DIRTY FUCKING MONGREL. I WOULD HAVE BEEN THE NEW LORD OF THE TOWN. THEY WOULD HAVE REWARDED ME. THEY WOULD HAVE–" It was then that Tom stopped yelling. His face went pale and the corners of his mouth quivered.

"They?" I asked.

"Who are 'they'?" Tom stayed silent. Until now, I hadn't thought that there was somebody behind all of this. It didn't make sense after all. Tom had been inside this town his whole life. He was a local thug in a local town. It was not like he just appeared out of nowhere. No. Everybody around here knew him. They had seen him grow up. They had seen him go from bully to delinquent, to thug to the leader of a whole gang. I asked again, "Who are 'they'?" He didn't say anything.

"Answer the Lord!" Gerald yelled. But Tom refused to talk. In fact, he refused to even look at us.

"We have to get the information out of him," I said, with a grim look on my face.

"One way or another." Gerald nodded, "I will do it. I have already failed the town once by not properly taking care of him. I will not repeat the same sins again. The way he became was partially my fault. But to think he... he sold himself out to outsiders..."

"Any idea who could be behind this?" Gerald stayed silent, and kneeled next to the thug. He grabbed a handful of his hair, and pulled, forcing Tom to look him in the eyes.

"I swear to god Tom, if it's the Nine Mountain Bandits, I will kill you myself." Tom's eyes trembled.

"For fuck's sake," Gerald said and dropped the man back to the ground with a little more force than necessary.

"Who or what are the Nine Mountain Bandits?" I asked. I could see the guards around us tense up at the mention of their name. Even Gerald had a solemn look on his face.

"They are a group of bandits that make life hell. They are the reason why the merchants have to pay such a hefty toll each time they pass through the Barren Lands. The baron charges an exorbitant amount of money for the protection of the roads," Gerald said.

"However, if that was all, that would have been alright. Worse, they also try to make life in the Barren Lands even harder than it should have been. They have robbed multiple towns already. They raided most villages. They are hell. And I can't believe that somebody from our fucking town has decided to work with them." I stayed silent. This was news to me. I didn't like the sounds of that at all.

"Figure out how he was approached and what he has gained in return. Find out if we are their next targets," I said, some anger leaking through my voice.

"Make sure to interrogate the other two we have captured too." Once Gerald nodded, I sped off. I was pissed. First a beast wave. Then a fucking full, endless forest infested by goblins and orcs and whatnot. And if that wasn't enough, we had a local thug almost kill my herbalist and my guard captain. Yeah, fuck that. Of course, it didn't end here. Now we also had the Nine Mountain Bandits to deal with?